This week- Newburgh VRA Amicus Brief Summaries; Nassau Candidate Remains on Ballot After Probable Death; Binghamton University Professors Look at 2022 Redistricting Decision, New Texas Map in Court; N.Y. VRA Preclearance, How N.Y.C. Voted in 2024
LITIGATION
Orange County: Clarke et. al v. Town of Newburgh
In this ongoing voting rights action, plaintiffs allege that the Town of Newburgh’s at-large method of election for Town Board members dilutes the voting power of Black and Hispanic voters in violation of the New York Voting Rights Act (NYVRA). The town appealed the issue of the NYVRA’s constitutionality to the New York Court of Appeals, claiming that the NYVRA is unconstitutional and violates the equal protection guarantees of the U.S. and New York Constitutions.
The Town of Mount Pleasant and Town Board of Mount Pleasant filed an amicus brief on September 15 opposing the constitutionality of the NYVRA alleging that the NYVRA fails the strict scrutiny test and there is federal supremacy.
First, the Town of Mount Pleasant argues that the NYVRA warrants strict scrutiny because much like race-based programs in college admissions or government contracts, the NYVRA gives advantages and disadvantages based on race. Strict scrutiny is the highest level of legal review.
Second, the Town of Mount Pleasant argues that the NYVRA fails strict scrutiny because it does not prevent racial discrimination, and plaintiffs did not claim it does. Further they argue that the law is not carefully designed and changes key legal rules.
Third, the Town of Mount Pleasant argues that the New York courts must respect federal supremacy because the Supremacy Clause states that federal law controls over state law. Thus, New York courts must follow the Equal Protection Clause even if state rules would normally prevent someone from bringing that kind of claim.
New York’s Attorney General filed a reply to the Town of Mount Pleasant’s amicus brief on September 26 supporting the constitutionality of the NYVRA because it bans voting systems that weaken the power of protected groups and it offers race-neutral ways to fix those programs, thus following both the Equal Protection Clauses.
First, the Attorney General argues that comparison to affirmative action cases do not hold up because the NYVRA does not favor any race but rather protects all voters from discrimination and ensures equal political opportunity.
Second, the Attorney General argues that strict scrutiny only applies if race is the main factor in drawing district lines, but the NYVRA allows many race-neutral fixes that do not involve using race in drawing districts. Third, the Attorney General argues that states have broad power to regulate their own elections.
The Court of Appeals will hear this case on October 14.
ELECTIONS
Nassau Democratic Candidate Remains On Ballot After Death
A Democratic Party candidate for the Nassau County Legislature will remain on the ballot despite apparent drowning off Long Beach on April 23rd. Petros Krommidas, 29, went for a swim in the Atlantic Ocean and never returned. Since Democrats did not seek to replace him before the June 24th candidate replacement deadline, the Nassau Board of Elections split on the issue, landing the challenge before Nassau County Supreme Court Justice Gary F. Knobel who ordered election officials to leave Krommidas’ name on the ballot. Democrats moved in court to replace him and with new candidate James Hodge. The motion was opposed by Republicans who were apparently sympathetic to the situation but argued that the law does not permit candidate replacement after the deadline unless it could be proved that Krommidas had in fact died. State law requires that three years must pass until an individual can be declared legally dead.
Krommidas was a triathelete who apparently went for an evening swim. He was running to replace incumbent Republican legislator Patrick Mullaney.
A New York Times story reported that it is not unheard of for dead candidates to remain on the ballot, citing situations in Pennsylvania, Alaska, and Nevada where deceased candidates won their races.
Democrats are hoping to win a majority in the Nassau Legislature this year after a new court-ordered map was put into place after the county settled a lawsuit alleging partisan and racial gerrymandering.
Information on an appeal was not available.
REDISTRICTING
Binghamton Professors Consider 2022 N.Y. Congressional Redistricting Decision Analysis
Binghamton University (SUNY) Professors Michael D. McDonald and Daniel B. Magleby will be publishing an article looking at the 2022 New York redistricting litigation (Harkenrider et al v. Hochul). The paper will be published by Polity, the journal of the Northeastern Political Science Association.
From the summary:
“Through a series of strategic maneuvers New York Democrats enacted a congressional districting plan. Republicans challenged it as a partisan gerrymander and New York courts sided with Republicans. As is often the case in court proceedings, evidence was offered on both sides of the question. For purposes here, the important point is that in reaching
its conclusion the court rejected evidence from widely endorsed social science gerrymandering metrics, including metrics that have been written into proposed congressional legislation to curb partisan gerrymanders. We first ask why. Our answer is that as applied to states with lopsided partisan divisions, such as New York, the social science metrics either do not apply or otherwise do not necessarily ask and answer the right question. After considering how the New York courts went about considering the evidence, we conclude with a recommendation for how social science academics and those entrusted with actual policy making power could formulate and answer the right question, covering states with either competitive or lopsided partisan competition.”
VOTING RIGHTS ACT
N.Y. Attorney General’s Office Preclearance
Coming Soon- A Review of New York Preclearance After One Year
862 Westchester County BOE – poll site location- under review
related to poll site changes for November 4 election
881 Suffolk County BOE- poll site location- under review
Request to temporarily change polling location from the Bellport Recreation Center to the Bellport Middle School for the November, General Election.
All submissions can be viewed at: https://nyvra-portal.ag.ny.gov/
AROUND THE NATION
New Texas Map Goes To Court
A federal court in El Paso, Texas has been hearing a challenge to the recently enacted Texas congressional map. Minority voters are challenging the new map intended to provide five additional Republican districts.
The case is being followed by Jen Rice at Democracy Docket.The Docket reports:
“the plaintiffs are arguing that the gerrymander is illegal because it was driven by race, and not just pure partisanship. They’ve cited numerous statements by Texas lawmakers, as well as Gov. Greg Abbott, that the goal was to break up “coalition districts” — that is, districts where two separate groups of minority voters vote together to elect the candidate of their choice. To establish the existence of a climate of racial appeals in the state’s politics, the plaintiffs also played a video clip of a Texas Republican making a racist comment at a legislative hearing. That clip was unearthed last month by Jen herself — after which the lawmaker apologized on the Senate floor.”
NEW YORK CITY VOTING
In Depth: A Look at the NYC Votes 2024 Voter Analysis Report
Participation in Perspective
The 2024 election cycle reaffirmed a clear reality about voting in New York City: civic participation remains uneven. The Voter Analysis Report, released by the NYC Campaign Finance Board, portrays a city with modern voting access but uneven engagement. Early vote by mail and expanded in-person options have made participation easier, yet turnout continues to reflect long-standing divides by age, income, and geography. Older, long-term residents vote consistently, while younger and unaffiliated voters remain less active.
Turnout varied sharply across the year’s three elections. The April presidential primary drew 6.6% of eligible voters, the June congressional and state primary reached 10.1%, and the November general election climbed to 60.2%. Out of 4.6 million eligible voters, about 225,000 voted in the spring compared with 2.8 million in November. The report links the low spring turnout to timing, by April 2, both major parties had already chosen their nominees, showing that scheduling, not apathy, often drives participation down.
Geography and Turnout
Turnout still depends heavily on where voters live. Manhattan led the city with 68.4% participation in November after 9.5% in April and 13.0% in June. The Bronx lagged at 4.8%, 10.4%, and 52.0%. Brooklyn, Queens, and Staten Island fell in between, each around the high fifties to mid-sixties.
These gaps track social and economic lines. Manhattan voters are generally older, wealthier, and more settled, while Bronx voters are younger and more transient, facing mobility and access challenges. The report emphasizes that reforms must address these differences rather than apply a single approach citywide.
The Age Factor
Age remains the most reliable predictor of participation. In the general election, 67.0% of voters aged 60–69 and 65.8% of those aged 70–79 cast ballots. Among voters aged 18–29, turnout was 57.1%, and among those 30–39, 57.2%. In primaries, the gap widens: only 3.7% of the youngest voters participated in April and 5.0% in June, compared with 14.2% for voters in their sixties.
Older voters continue to dominate the process. They not only vote more but shape which candidates reach the November ballot. Unless younger voters engage more consistently, New York’s political priorities will continue to reflect an older generation.
Changing Voting Habits
While the makeup of the electorate changed little, how New Yorkers vote evolved. The 2024 cycle introduced no-excuse early vote by mail, allowing any registered voter to request a ballot without citing illness or travel. Combined with absentee and early in-person voting, the system offered unprecedented flexibility.
In November, 47.7% voted on Election Day, 38.4% early in person, 6.2% by early vote mail, and 3.8% by absentee ballot. The shift away from single-day voting shows steady cultural change, though the adoption of early methods is still strongest among older voters. Younger and unaffiliated New Yorkers have yet to make full use of the expanded options.
Voting by Political Party
Party affiliation continues to shape turnout across New York City. In 2024, Democrats made up about 67% of registered voters, Republicans 9%, and minor-party voters 3%. Democratic turnout in the general election reached roughly 61%, compared with 57% for Republicans and 54% for smaller parties. Staten Island showed the strongest Republican participation, while Manhattan and Brooklyn drove the Democratic totals. Although Democrats remain dominant, the steady growth of independent registration suggests a gradual loosening of partisan alignment, especially among younger voters.
Unaffiliated Voters
Roughly one million New Yorkers, 21% of registered voters, are unaffiliated with any political party. Because New York’s closed-primary system bars them from voting in primaries, they mainly participate in general elections. Their 2024 turnout of 49.3% trailed both major parties, and their participation in midterms and local races dropped to 24.7% and 11.7%. In special elections, turnout fell to just 2.8%.
The unaffiliated electorate mirrors national trends toward political independence but remains underrepresented. Without outreach or reform, the city’s second-largest voting bloc will continue to wield little influence.
Young Voters
Engagement among younger voters remains limited. Registration among under-30 New Yorkers is 75.9%, compared with 87.9% for older adults. Only 5.2% of eligible 16- and 17-year-olds pre-registered to vote in 2024, well below the 20.3% statewide average. NYC Votes Youth Ambassadors reported three main obstacles: limited knowledge of voting procedures, lack of direct outreach, and the sense that local politics rarely reflects youth priorities.
When younger voters do participate, they tend to back process reforms like ranked-choice voting and early voting. The report concludes that accessibility must be paired with education and visibility to convert registration into turnout.
Protest and Political Expression
The April Democratic primary revealed a new kind of participation. With no “uncommitted” option on the ballot, many Democrats left their ballots blank to protest U.S. policy in Gaza. Unrecorded ballots reached 14.8%, up from 4.2% in 2020 and 1.1% in 2016. While largely symbolic, the protest reflected the growing use of the ballot as a means of expression rather than simple selection.
Outreach and Education
To address disengagement, NYC Votes launched its largest civic outreach campaign to date. It produced more than 200 ad variations across 13 languages, reaching about two million residents and generating 20 million digital impressions. On Instagram alone, the campaign achieved 13 million impressions and eight million profile visits. Outreach teams also engaged at community events, parades, and cultural festivals.
The campaign improved awareness of early voting and ranked-choice elections, though it did not substantially increase participation among first-time or younger voters. The report notes that sustained, community-based outreach remains essential.
Policy Priorities
The report closes by reaffirming two main recommendations. First, join the Electronic Registration Information Center (ERIC) to improve the accuracy of voter rolls and reduce administrative errors. Second, consolidate election dates to minimize voter fatigue and confusion caused by constant, low-turnout specials. Both steps would make participation more straightforward and align election timing with how New Yorkers actually vote.
Looking Ahead
The 2024 findings portray a city modernizing its election systems faster than its civic habits. Early and mail voting have expanded access, but participation remains concentrated among older and wealthier residents. The next challenge for New York’s democracy is cultural: transforming easier access into consistent engagement.
Report link :https://www.nyccfb.info/pdf/2024_VoterAnalysisReport.pdf
INSTITUTE RESOURCES
The New York Elections, Census and Redistricting Institute has archived many resources for the public to view on our Digital Commons Page.
Our Redistricting Resources page contains resources on the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Act. You can access the page
here: https://digitalcommons.nyls.edu/redistricting_resources/
Archived Updates can be accessed
here: https://digitalcommons.nyls.edu/redistricting_roundtable_updates/
Please share this weekly update with your colleagues. To be added to the mailing list, please contact Jeffrey.wice@nyls.edu
The N.Y. Elections, Census & Redistricting Institute is supported by grants from the New York Community Trust, New York Census Equity Fund and the New York City Council. This report was prepared by Jeff Wice, Esha Shah, and Daniel Bonaventura.